50 Foot Wall of Snow
A caterpillar dozer works at digging through a 50 foot high wall of snow brought down following avalanche control operations on Teton Pass on Dec. 30.
|
Big Snowbank
Crews worked into the late hours of Dec. 30 to cut through the wall of snow brought down Glory Bowl on Teton Pass.
|
|
WYDOT tackles Teton Pass snow slides
by Wyoming Department of Transportation
January 1, 2009
A natural slide closed the Pass at 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 28. Jamie Yount, WYDOT Avalanche Technician, hiked to the top of Glory Bowl and threw three 5-pound bombs above the highway that brought down three additional slides on Dec. 29. In clearing the 50 foot deep wall of snow, WYDOT maintenance crews discovered that the first slide had been triggered by a moose and was caught up in the avalanche. The Pass was reopened at 7:26 a.m. on Dec. 29.
On Dec. 30 at 8:04 a.m., WYDOT crews closed Teton Pass for fear that skiers would set off additional avalanches and to conduct avalanche control operations. With the assistance to the Teton County Sheriff's Office and Jay Pistano, Teton Pass winter Ambassador, the Pass was searched to ensure no motorists or skiers were at the parking area at the top of the Pass. At 10 a.m., a hired helicopter from Teton County Search and Rescue took WYDOT avalanche technicians Jamie Yount and Galen Richards up to drop a series of eight 25-pound bombs at the Glory Bowl, Shovel Slide, Rocky Gulch, Surprise Slide, Snow Slide Gulch and the little Do-It Slide areas.
As equipment for snow removal of the 50-foot deep wall of snow from the highway, the 102 Howitzer was used to fire 16 rounds at the Glory Blow Slide, Rocky Gulch Slide and the Surprise Slide areas to bring down any remaining unstable snow.
WY 22 was reopened at 7:00 p.m. Dec. 30. Avalanche danger for backcountry skiers remains high.
Photos by Ed Smith, WYDOT Maintenance Foreman, Jackson
|
